It isn't easy being on the run
by Charlie Cecilia
Summary: In this AU, Ted is hiding a big secret: Ted is a merman on the run from Linda Denman. Ted is also trying to deal with his hidden feelings for Barney, and the toll being on the run is having on him. I have also posted this on Wattpad: /story/139281338-it-isn%27t-easy-being-on-the-run-ted-x-barney and Archive of our Own: /works/10785
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **Hi guys, I hope you enjoy this story. This story was inspired by my h20 fic Mermen of the Gold Coast Season 1, I'm really into the merpeople genre so I'm going to write more stories like this. I have also posted it on archive of our own: /works/10785066/chapters/23949534.**

The past always has a way of coming back to haunt you, no matter how hard you try to run from it. This was the thought going through Ted Mosby's head, as he entered a Starbucks and saw the last person he wanted to see, Linda Denman. Just as she had taken her coffee and was about to turn around, Ted ran out the shop all the way back to his apartment. Frantic thoughts running through his head on the way. How had she found him? Did she even know where he was or was it just a coincidence? When he reached his apartment, he slammed the door behind him and leaned heavily against it trying to catch his breath. Robin was sitting on the sofa watching something on the TV, and gave him a look that was a mix of confusion and concern.

"What's wrong Ted?"

"N-Nothing, I just…ran into an ex", Ted lied.

Robin gave him a sympathetic look, "Ah, want to talk about it?"

"Thanks, but I have things I need to do", Ted said and ran to his room before Robin could ask any more questions. Ted paced his room, if Denman knew where he was then he would have to run but he didn't want to leave his life behind. He couldn't leave his friends, they were like family to him. But he reasoned to himself, that if Denman caught him he wouldn't be allowed to have a life and may never see his friends again. Ted sighed, just as he got his go-bag (which he always had ready in case something like this happened), an idea hit him he could just go somewhere like Chicago for a while and ask his friends if Denman had come looking for him and if she hadn't and after waiting for enough time for it to be safe, he could come back. Part of him knew this was just wishful thinking, but that didn't stop him from hanging on to that hope.

When Ted walked back to the living room, Robin was still watching TV. Ted felt a wave of sadness, there was a good chance he may never see her again. He wanted to give her a hug, but knew that if he did she would realize something was very wrong, Robing knew him too well. After one last look at this apartment, Ted tried to leave without Robin noticing but was unsuccessful.

Robin turned around after seeing Ted about to leave, and was surprised that he had a go-bag on his back, "Where are you going?"

Ted sighed, "I'm just going to visit a friend for a while".

"Oh, where?"

"LA, I'm not sure how long I'll be there but I'll let you know when I'm coming back", Ted said, he was actually going to Chicago. But he couldn't risk Robin knowing, in case Denman asked where he had gone and tricked Robin into telling her.

"Okay, I hope you have a great time".

"Thanks, bye", Ted said and left before he could change his mind. When Ted closed the door he sighed, he wanted to say goodbye to Marshall, Lilly and Barney but he couldn't risk running into Denman. As he made his way to his taxi that was waiting for him, Ted thought about his life in New York. He had tried not to get attached to it, but he had made the fatal mistake of making friends that became family. Every time he moved, he had a rule not to get close to people so that he could easily run. But he had broken his rule. He got inside the taxi, which took him to the airport. On the way, Barney had rang him probably wanting his help with hooking up with a girl. Ted so badly wanted to pick up, and pretend that this wasn't happening but knew he couldn't afford to so he declined the call. The moment he arrived at the airport, he knew that he may never see his friends or family again and that this was the price of his freedom.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Two weeks earlier.

"Challenge accepted!" Barney said excitedly and took off for the bar nearly nocking Ted over on his way to the booth.

"What challenge is it this time?" Ted asked Marshall feeling his heart sink but hiding his emotions. Ted hated seeing Barney picking up girls, even worse was helping Barney and encouraging him, while he pushed his heartbreak down.

"I didn't challenge him, I never challenge him", Marshall said in exasperation.

"He's going to try and pick up the blonde girl at the bar, while talking in an alien voice", Lilly said shaking her head.

Ted laughed, "He'll never do it". But five minutes later they saw Barney leaving with the blonde girl, Barney smirked at them and did a little dance before he left. "I can't believe he actually did it", Ted said in amazement.

"Come on this is Barney we're talking about", Robin said.

"Good point", Ted said laughing, he hoped they couldn't tell the laughter was forced. Ted had been in love with Barney for half of the year. He wanted to tell Barney, but he had already broken his rule about getting into committed relationships too many times. This was yet another thing that made it harder to run, he had considered telling Stella that he was a merman, they were going to get married after all. But every time he tried to he couldn't, and then she had left him at the alter breaking his heart in the process. So, Stella had never found out. Another thing stopping Ted from telling Barney was that, as far as Ted knew Barney only liked women. Ted was afraid that because of this Barney would never feel the same way, and he also didn't want to risk their friendship. Furthermore, neither Barney or his other best friends even knew that he was a merman.

"Earth to Ted", Robin said waving her hand in front of him.

Ted jumped he had been so engrossed in his thoughts, that he hadn't realized he had spaced out.

"Is everything okay buddy?" Marshall asked in concern.

"Yeah, I've just had a long day".

Seeing that Ted wanted the spot light off him, Robin spoke up "Tell me about it, Don is so annoying". Ted gave her a grateful smile, and she returned it. Robin would never admit it, but she was very protective of her friends, especially Ted. She wasn't sure why, it could be that Ted was her first friend in New York or that they had dated for a year, maybe even a bit of bot

Marshall laughed at this statement.

"What?" Robin asked irritably.

"Oh nothing, it's just that Lilly should probably start planning your hen night", Marshall replied causing Lilly and even Ted to laugh. This was one of the reasons Ted loved hanging out with his second family, even when he was feeling down they never failed to cheer him up. Ted ignored the rational side of him telling him to stop thinking this way and to distance himself from them.

Robin groaned, "Not this again".

"He's got a point Robin, and you need to start booking a venue before someone snatches up the best one", Lilly said.

"Yeah, you'll kick yourself if you leave it too late", Ted added causing Robin to glare at him, though her heart wasn't in it she was glad Ted was feeling cheerful enough to tease her. This went on for an hour, until Lilly accidently nocked her glass over and spilled her drink all over Ted. Ted stared in horror at his soaked lap for a second, then ran to the bathroom only just getting there in time, thankfully there was a free toilet and no-one in the room. Ted balanced himself and then turned himself back into human form.

Ted had been a merman since he was twenty, and so had plenty of practice running away when splashed. During a trip to the Gold Coast in Australia during college, Ted had discovered a moon pool when he was exploring Mako Island. When he was in the pool, the moon had passed over, and he had been surrounded in bubbles until the moon finished passing over. The next day Ted had discovered that he was a merman. Throughout college, to his delight he had discovered that he had powers. He could control water, turn water into ice and boil water. This third power came in handy when he transformed into a merman, as he could use it to transform back to his human form. And he did so. When he got back to the booth, he noticed his friends giving him an odd look.

"So, what did I miss?" Ted asked hoping they would forget what had happened, unfortunately they hadn't. This had happened a lot over the years, but he had managed to get out of the situation with a distraction or a good lie.

"How come you always run to the bathroom, when someone spills their drink", Robin asked suspiciously.

"I don't want my pants to be ruined", Ted said. Lilly and Marshall seemed to believe his lie, but judging by the look Robin gave Ted, she didn't believe him. Thankfully Marshall unknowingly saved him by changing the topic to what they should order for dinner.

Ted was one of Robin's closest friends, and she was already good at reading people even when she didn't know them so she could tell that Ted was lying. But when Marshall changed the topic, she decided to drop it for the moment. But she certainly hadn't let it go. They had decided to eat at MacLaren's, and throughout the night Robin kept an eye on Ted and noticed he was more jumpy than usual. Robin hadn't told Ted, but she knew that hewas in love with Barney. She had seen the way he had looked at Barney. She wondered if this was the reason why he was so jumpy, that Ted was afraid he would give himself away.

The next morning Ted was lying on the couch watching TV. Ted was afraid that Robin would question him about his behaviour the previous night, but to his relief so far she hadn't. Robin was sitting at the table and was doing something on her lap top.

"Hey Ted?" Robin said and looked up at him.

Ted turned to look at her, "Yeah?"

"I know".

Ted froze, Robin knew what? She couldn't know that he was a merman, could she? He hadn't told anyone, so she couldn't know right? "You know what?" Ted asked sounding calm, but inwardly freaking out.

"I know that you're in love with Barney".

Ted gaped at her, "What?" Though he was so relieved that Robin didn't know that he was a merman, he didn't want her knowing how he felt about Barney.

Robin rolled her eyes, "I know that you're in love with Barney".

"That-that's ridiculous".

"Really? I have seen the way you look at him, and though you try to hide it I always spot your hurt look every time Barney picks up a girl and I can tell your laughter at Barney's plays are forced".

"Did anyone tell you, you should be on 60 minutes?"

Robin laughed and shook her head.

"Please don't tell anyone about this, no-one can know especially Barney".

"Of course, you know what? I'm going to help you get together with Barney".

"Thanks, but it's never going to happen", Ted said sadly.

Robin pulled up a chair so that she was facing Ted, "Hey, don't give up. I'm a pretty great wing woman".

Ted laughed and Robin was happy to see that it was a genuine laugh.

"All right Sherbatsky, what's your plan?"

They spent the rest of the afternoon discussing ideas, and by the end of the afternoon Ted was feeling more hopeful than ever that he and Barney might actually have a chance at being a couple.

The next night Ted and Robin put their plan in motion, the group were sitting in their usual booth in MacLaren's bar chatting, when Robin spoke up.

"Marshall, Lilly I need your help with something at the apartment".

Marshall and Lilly shrugged and followed Robin, before they left Robin winked at Ted and mouthed, "Ask him out now".

Ted nodded nervously at Robin, when Robin, Marshall and Lilly had left Ted took his chance, "H-Hey Barney?" Ted stammered.

"Yes Ted?"

"W-Would you-"

"Wow, Ted look at that hottie who just walked in", Barney said.

Ted sighed, he couldn't ask Barney out he just couldn't. Ted was trying to work up the courage to try and ask Barney out again, but before he could an ex-boyfriend of his called Jason Ross came up to him. Ted inwardly groaned, things ended badly with Jason. Jason had cheated on Ted three times, but Ted had loved him so he gave him a second chance the first two times, but broke up with Jason the third time. Ted couldn't go through the heartbreak again. Jason had been calling Ted, because he wanted to get back together with him. Jason kept calling no matter how many times Ted told him he didn't want to get back together. Ted was very thankful he hadn't told Jason his merman secret, Jason was exactly the sort of person who would use the secret against him. This was not part of the plan, Ted could already feel his shattered confidence shatter even more.

"Hey Ted, want to get back together?" Jason asked.

Ted glared at Jason, this was what he always said when he called. He never apologised for what he had put Ted through, or asked how he was, or gave some sign that he cared about Ted, "Jason, I said no and I meant it. Leave me alone".

"Come on, you don't mean that", Jason said.

Barney noticed that Ted was very uncomfortable with how close Jason was to him, and that made Barney feel very angry. Ted had told the group what had happened with Jason, and Barney had held Ted for hours letting him cry on his shoulder, when the others had left the apartment after they had spent the afternoon comforting Ted. Barney had of course gotten revenge, with a series of very creative pranks. Barney stood up and faced Jason.

"Hey, he said leave him alone!"

"And what if I don't, what are you going to do about it?"

Barney's rage grew so much that before he realized what he was doing Barney had punched Jason, the force of the punch caused him to fall flat on his back on the floor. Ted gave Barney a stunned, but grateful look. Most of the people in the bar stared at Barney for a few minutes then erupted into cheers, they had overheard what had happened. And most of them being regulars, were friends with Ted and where happy that Barney had defended him.

Carl came over and hauled Jason to his feet, "You're banished from my bar! Out now!"

Jason glared at Carl and looked as though he wanted to try and harass Ted again but Barney stepped in front of Ted and glared at Jason. Jason glared back, but reluctantly went out of the bar, causing people to cheer again.

"Thanks Carl", Barney said smiling at him.

"No problem, no-one harasses my customers and gets away with it", Carl said returning Barney's smile, he nodded at Ted who nodded gratefully back. After Carl had gone back to the bar. Barney turned to Ted.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks", Ted said.

"No problem, want to go back to the apartment?" Barney asked.

"Yeah, let's go", Ted said and got out of the booth. All the way back to the apartment Barney had his arm around Ted and whispered comforting things to him.

When they got to the apartment, Robin and Marshall were watching TV while Lilly was working on a painting. Noticing Ted and Barney's appearance, they stopped what they were doing and looked at them in concern.

"What happened?" Lilly asked.

"Jason", Barney growled, he was even more angry when he noticed Ted flinch at the name.

"What?" The others shouted angrily at the same time. After Barney had sat Ted down and handed him a hot chocolate, he sat next to Ted and told them what happened while keeping his arm around Ted. By the end of the story, they looked as angry as Barney felt. Barney noticed that Ted had fallen asleep on his shoulder, he had had a long and emotional day. Barney subconsciously tightened his arm around Ted, not noticing Robin's grin at this action. They spent the rest of the evening thinking about ways to get revenge on Jason, while Ted slept.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was 12:00pm by the time Ted woke up, he panicked for a few minutes afraid he was late for work. But then he remembered that it was Sunday and calmed down. Then the memories of the previous night hit him, the thought of Jason made him groan, but the memory of Barney defending and comforting him made him feel so happy. The happiness was short lived when he realised that he was alone on the couch, and there was no sign of Barney. Had he left during the night because he was too much trouble? Ted sighed and made himself get up to go to the kitchen, he felt too depressed to eat but knew he had too.

When Ted arrived at the kitchen the sight that met him made Ted freeze. Barney was making a full English breakfast. Then his face broke out into a smile, Barney hadn't left him.

"Oh, you're awake", Barney said smiling at Ted.

"Yeah, I don't remember falling asleep", Ted said returning Barney's smile.

"It was after I brought you back to the apartment, and what are you doing here? You should be resting".

Ted looked sheepishly at the floor, not wanting to admit the truth, but Barney knew Ted and knew what he was hiding.

"You thought I would leave", Barney said this fact causing an ache in his heart.

Ted rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah sorry".

"I understand, especially considering what Stella and Jason have put you through. But I'm not them, I promise I won't hurt you", Barney said uncharacteristically serious.

Ted gave him a grateful smile, "Thank you". Barney and Ted stared at each other, until a banging on the door brought them out of their trance. Ted looked at Barney in panic, "Jason", Ted whispered.

As if confirming Ted's fear Jason shouted, "Open up Ted I want to talk to you!"

"I'll take care of this", Barney said angrily, "Stay in the kitchen", he said more softly to Ted.

Just as Barney was about to leave Ted grabbed his arm. "Barney don't do this, I don't want you to get hurt because of me".

"You're worth it Ted, and I managed just fine last night remember?"

Ted nodded and reluctantly let go of Barney's arm.

Barney opened the door, and when Jason recognized him glared.

"Get out of my way!" Jason shouted angrily.

"Nope. Ted doesn't want to talk to you", Barney said just as angrily.

"Yes, he does!" Jason said and pushed past Barney before he could stop him.

"Ted, where are you? I know you're in here".

Ted was hidden behind the counter, he was trying to control his breathing but it was very difficult. Suddenly an idea hit him. He turned the tap on and used his powers to make the water boiling and shot it at Jason. Jason yelped in pain, and Barney took the opportunity to push him out of the apartment and closed the door. Ted turned the tap of before Barney could realize it had been boiling.

Barney rushed to the kitchen, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah", Ted said shakily his heart still pounding. Barney pulled Ted into a hug, which helped a lot. Ted wanted to kiss Barney but was afraid of how he would react so he didn't. "Thank you Barney".

"No problem" Barney said and just as he was about to ask Ted about why the water hurt Jason, they heard banging on the door again. "That's it, I'm calling the police".

"Wait, please don't", Ted said urgently, he was afraid that calling the police would bring unwanted attention.

"We need to Ted, Jason keeps harassing you".

"He'll leave when he realizes that he isn't getting in, please don't call them".

Barney sighed, "Okay, but if Jason won't stop then we're calling them".

Ted agreed, and the two sat together on the couch and watched TV on Ted's tablet with headphones to block out the banging. After a while, Robin, Lilly and Marshall came into the apartment causing Ted and Barney to jump.

Barney immediately stood up to close the door behind them, "You guys didn't see Jason, did you?" He asked urgently.

Lilly gave him a confused look, "No we didn't, wait Jason was here?"

Barney sighed again, "Yeah he was". Barney told them what happened while they settled into the couch and Marshall got them drinks.

"Barney's right Ted, if he keeps harassing you, you need to call the police", Robin said putting a comforting arm around Ted.

"But I don't want to call them", Ted said in frustration.

"You'll have to, we can't lose you again Ted", Lilly said sadly then winced when she realised what she had said.

"Lilly!" Ted scolded.

"Sorry Ted", Lilly said.

"What do you mean again?" Barney said sounding confused and angry.

Marshall, Lilly and Ted had one of their telepathic conversations.

" _I don't want Barney and Robin to know, especially Barney_ ", Ted said.

" _They are our best friends, they need to know Ted_ ", Marshall said.

" _They are going to find out eventually, it is better that they find on our own terms_ ", Lilly said.

" _I'm afraid they'll treat me differently",_ Ted argued.

" _They might at first, but they won't forever",_ Marshall said.

Ted sighed, _"Okay, but can you guys tell them?"_

Marshall and Lilly gave him a sympathetic nod, "Of course Ted", Lilly said.

"Guys, Marshall and Lilly are going to explain, but I can't be here for it I need to go", Ted said out loud to Barney and Robin.

"Ted wait, what about Jason?" Robin said in concern.

"You can stay at my apartment, he doesn't know where that is", Barney suggested.

"Yeah, I'll do that, thanks Barney", Ted said giving him a grateful smile, and Barney smiled back trying to hide his concern. Whatever this secret was, it must be really bad if Ted couldn't even be in the room while it was revealed. He was also worried about Ted being on his own with Jason about.

When Ted left, Barney and Robin turned expectantly to Marshall and Lilly both wanting answers. Marshall and Lilly exchanged a sad glance, they knew it was going to be difficult to tell Ted's story but Barney and Robin needed to know. Lilly sighed and started the story, "It was eight years ago…"

 **Year: 2000**

 **Marshall and Lilly were sitting in the apartment watching TV, they hadn't had dinner yet because they were waiting for Ted. Marshall smiled sheepishly at Lilly when his stomach growled causing her to laugh.**

" **Where is Ted, what's taking him so long?" Lilly said in annoyance.**

" **I don't know, it's weird he's never this late", Marshall said concern creeping into his voice.**

" **Yeah, maybe we should call him", Lilly said.**

" **Yeah, that's a good idea", Marshall said and took out his phone. Marshall knew he was probably being paranoid and that Ted would tease him about it later. But Ted was like a brother to him, he couldn't help feeling worried about him. His worry increased even more when Ted didn't answer and it went straight to voice mail. Marshall tried several more times but Ted still didn't answer. By the fifth unanswered call Marshall and Lilly were frantic.**

" **What do we do, what if Ted's been hurt?" Marshall asked.**

" **We could call the police", Lilly suggested the fact that Marshall was freaking out too made her even more worried.**

" **We can't, we have to wait 24 hours before we can call the police or they won't consider Ted to be missing".**

" **That's stupid, what if Ted doesn't have 24 hours?" Lilly said her voice rising in panic.**

 **Marshall pulled Lilly into a hug, "It'll be okay, Ted may not even be missing. He could turn up at five in the morning completely drunk". Marshall said trying to convince himself as much as Lilly.**

" **If he does I'm going to kill him for putting us through this", Lilly said shakily.**

 **Marshall and Lilly stayed up all night hoping that Ted would barge in at any moment, but he never came and when they woke up at 10:00am they saw that Ted wasn't in his room. And after checking the whole apartment, the bar and other places Ted could be and being unable to find him, Marshall and Lilly came to the conclusion that Ted was missing. They frantically called the police and reported Ted missing, they were asked everything they knew about Ted and if they knew of anyone that would want to hurt him. As far as Marshall and Lilly knew Ted didn't have any enemies, some past relationships had ended badly but they didn't think any of Ted's exes would want to seriously hurt him and they told this to the police.**

 **When the police finished questioning them, they reassured them that they would do everything they could to find and bring back Ted and told them they would let them know the moment they found him. They spent the rest of the day curled up on the couch trying to comfort each other and hoping that wherever Ted was that he wasn't being hurt.**

End of flashback.

"It was one of the worst years of our lives", Marshall said unable to keep the tremor out of his voice. Lilly wrapped around her arms around Marshall and leaned his head on her shoulder.

"We would call and call and each time we were told they were still looking for Ted. When they finally rescued Ted, it had been a year and when we saw him he was unrecognisable", Lilly said.

Marshall knew that Lilly was struggling, so though he really didn't want to he took over the story for her. "Ted had been tortured badly, we tried to get him to talk about it but he wouldn't, it was too hard for him. Ted wouldn't tell us who had taken and done this to him either, though he knew who had. We still don't know to this day. Ted doesn't like talking about it, he's been going to a therapist who has been helping him get through this".

"Ted still won't tell us what he's been through, while his therapist has helped him through the trauma we know it still haunts him, and we don't want to push him. I know you two will want to talk to him about this, but please don't push him," Lilly said.

Barney was finding it very difficult to control his emotions, he was furious about what Ted had been through and wanted to get revenge on whoever had hurt him. Barney had wanted try and ask Ted who had hurt him, but Lilly had a point. Ted had made so much progress and Barney didn't want to put him back to square one by pushing him too much.

"Don't worry, we won't push him", Barney said.

Robin nodded her head in agreement, not trusting herself to speak. She was just as angry as Barney was, she couldn't believe anyone could hurt Ted like that. Robin felt a surge of protectiveness, she would make sure no one would ever hurt Ted again. She would even protect him from Barney if she had to, though she knew he wouldn't intentionally hurt him.

While Marshall and Lilly had been telling Barney, what had happened to Ted, Ted was making his way down to the bar as it was on the way out. Carl called Ted over when he spotted him to check that he was okay after the confrontation with Jason. Ted talked to him and Wendy for a bit and reassured them he was fine. After he had finished talking to them he left the bar and was about to cross the road when someone grabbed his arm and spun him around. Ted's eyes widened in shock when he came face to face with Jason.


End file.
